– RCI, the world’s leading vacation exchange company under the Panorama portfolio of leading travel membership brands, announced today it is launching a new suite of travel services and experiences for its members and affiliates as part of a new brand profile.
RCI, which pioneered the timeshare exchange concept more than 45 years ago and has had a presence in India for 27 years, is reinventing itself for the new shape of today’s travel with enhanced product offerings for its nearly 4 million members around the world.
“The new RCI is evolving beyond its storied history as the timeshare industry’s most renowned exchange partner. Today, we are expanding our services as the trusted travel advisor to our members and affiliates — not just once a year, but every time members leave home for their personal or business travel,” said Olivier Chavy, president of Panorama. “We are on a mission to further expand the value of vacation ownership and provide our members and affiliates with comprehensive travel resources and experiences that translate to a true end-to-end travel provider, illustrating our expertise across the full spectrum of travel.”
MOVING FROM TRANSACTIONAL PLATFORM TO COMPREHENSIVE TRAVEL ADVISOR
Today’s travelers want a one-stop shop with a company they trust, who knows them and their travel preferences, not just for vacation exchange, but for all of their travel. RCI’s 2019 acquisition of Alliance Reservations Network (ARN) has enabled the company to continue evolving its offerings through enhanced B2B products and services for its affiliate partners, as well as bring new benefits for individual and group travel, events, and the corporate meetings market. ARN’s highly configurable and intelligent booking platform gives RCI the ability to offer travelers a wide array of travel and lifestyle services through the delivery of an optimized booking engine, inventory at over 600,000 hotels and resorts, and competitive pricing.
Members and affiliates are already enjoying RCI’s ability to access hotel discounts, and Platinum member travel discounts launched earlier this year. The new and enhanced RCI services for Indian members include:
• The new RCI Travel service, allows subscribing members to book all of their door-to-door travel needs in one place and benefit from exclusive pricing on hotels, car rentals, cruises, destination activities, and more.
• The new discount option allows members to use their deposit trading power to buy down the cost of already discounted hotels and other accommodations at more than 600,000 properties around the world.
• RCI Platinum membership provides greater discounts, upgrades, and Priority Access to select exchange vacations.
RCI-affiliated resort partners are also benefitting from the new offerings in the RCI portfolio. With the competitive technology provided by ARN, RCI is delivering a new suite of services which enable custom travel and club solutions driven by leading digital technology. Affiliates will be able to offer their members “white label” customized travel benefits, metropolitan accommodations, travel clubs, rental distribution, lead generation, and more.
“Our strategy is to expand beyond our core vacation exchange model into the broader travel market to become a leading travel membership provider,” says Paul Mulcahy, managing director of APAC, India and EMEA for RCI. “We plan to continue our focus on the customer experience by expanding our expertise to be the trusted source for all our members’ global travel needs.”